Black market operators have taken over major cities in the country as a result of fuel scarcity. The difficulty to get fuel from filling stations led buyers to roadside sellers called “black marketers.”
The situation according to a report gathered was more heightened over the weekend in Lagos and some major cities in the country, such as Calabar, the capital of Akwa Ibom, where pump price has risen up to N500 per litre.
In Calabar city, black market sellers have taken advantage of the scarcity of selling for up to N700 per litre.
In Lagos, this is even as a keg of 5 litres of petrol is sold between the range of N2500 to N3000 in places like Maryland and Ajah of the State during the weekend.
It was gathered that some filling stations have stock but refused to dispense the product to the black marketers at midnight or in the early hours of the day.
The development has caused untold hardship to Nigerians as transport fares as well as prices of goods and services have been hiked.
However, the situation worsened in the last two days as commuters have resulted to trekking the distance to their destinations since motorists have pulled their vehicles off the road.
Transport fares in Lagos over the weekend recorded about a 100 per cent increase.
For instance, motorists now charge N1,200 from Ajah to Oshodi, which formerly used to be about N700, while some other distances that used to cost between N50 and N100 now go for about N200 to N250.
This is just as Bolt and Uber drivers have raised the alarm that the scarcity was negatively impacting their business as many of them had resorted to buying PMS from the black market.
However, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) had said that it is working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., to improve the distribution of petrol across the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of MOMAN, Mr Clement Isong said this in an interview with journalists in Lagos during the weekend against the backdrop of the current scarcity of petrol and long queues at filling stations.
Isong said the association had been holding a daily logistic emergency meeting with the downstream management of NNPCL on how to improve the supply of petrol.
According to him, the collaboration with NNPCL will enhance the distribution of petroleum products in the country.
“We are doing depot-to-depot check-in and check-out to enhance efficiency, also having logistic supply meetings with NNPCL.
“There is also collaboration among our members to cushion supply to various MOMAN’s stations.
“We arranged it in a way that any MOMAN member who does not have product can pick from fellow members’ depot to minimise supply gaps,” he said.
Isong also said the effort was to improve the supply of petrol at filling stations across the country.
“NNPCL had an operational meeting with MOMAN to ensure that products are effectively distributed across the country.
“The logistics meeting was to ensure adequate distribution of products to stations across the country,” he added.
He said MOMAN had been pushing out more products than it normally did.
He added that the scarcity was a result of delays experienced at the point of receiving products from offshore to onshore at the port.
He also stated that the logistics challenge had been resolved and members were currently trucking out products.
Meanwhile, The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo disclosed on Sunday, that the private depot owners are to be blamed for the scarcity.
He urged that the moment petrol distribution is left in the hands of IPMAN, the issue of scarcity will be solved.
“There is enough product (fuel) but the distribution is the problem, it shouldn’t be left in the hands of private depot owners. Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN should deal directly with the distribution of the product.
“Private Depot owners are the ones putting the country in this problem. The moment they say the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN do the distribution directly, the problem will be solved and the price,” he said.
